FL- Then-16-year-old's rape conviction of girl, 15, overturned in Stuart case

12-12-2008 Florida:

STUART — A 20-year-old Stuart man who spent four years in jail for the 2003 rape of a 15-year-old girl, was found not guilty during his retrial on the charges.

The six-member circuit jury unanimously found Kenneth Atkins not guilty of the rape for which he had been convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2004. The retrial was ordered by the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

The jury deliberated for about 1 ½ hours before delivering their verdict to Circuit Judge Steven Levin.

Atkins, standing with his lawyer Jerome Stone, took the verdict with a smile. The young woman in the case burst into tears and she and her family left the courtroom.

“He’s very happy,” said Stone after the trial ended. “He didn’t want to make too much fuss, because the judge had cautioned everyone not to create any disturbance.”

Atkins was returned to the Martin County Jail and then later released.

Atkins was convicted of sexual assault in 2004, but the Fourth District Court of Appeals overturned that conviction on the basis of a tape recording between the victim and a witness and ordered a new trial.

Stone said the second jury heard a controlled call made by investigators between the victim and Atkins. “In that call, which he did not know was being recorded, he always maintained his innocence. I think that had an effect on the jury.”

Prosecutor Linda Baldree told the jury that Atkins and Martin Lyke Jr., then 18, took turns raping the girl at the pool area of a Stuart apartment complex during a party involving several youths, all of whom were drinking, in September 2003. Lyke was sentenced to six years in prison, but has been released on probation as a sex offender.

Stone said Atkins faces a difficult immediate future because of his four years behind bars. He is not a felon, Stone said, but he is coming out in difficult economic times and will have to find an employer who will give him a chance. He said Atkins may go to North Carolina, where his family has moved. ..News Source.. by Joe Crankshaw